IB Lab Cheat Sheet: Design

This sheet is to help you with the Design portion of an IB lab report. Your report
should include all of the sections described below, in the order they are presented here (unless
noted). An example, with the required detail, is included in each section for your reference.
The basis for the example is an instruction from the teacher to design a lab to investigate some
aspect of popcorn.

Research Question/Problem Statement: (required)

Identify a focused problem or research question (not both). Make sure this is clear and
specific. If a general question has been suggested, DO NOT simply restate the question; revise
it to be more specific and relevant to your experiment. If the instruction from the teacher was to
design a lab to investiage some aspect of popcorn, a focused research question might look like:
Does the brand of popcorn make a difference in the percent of unpopped kernels per batch?
or
Do different brands of popcorn have different popping efficiencies?

A problem statement might read as follows:

In this lab we want to investigate the relationship between the brand of popcorn and the percentage of unpopped kernels that
remain after popping.

Hypothesis: (at teacher discretion)

The hypothesis should be related to the research question.

A hypothesis should be a prediction about something you believe will happen based on
logical reasoning and/or your knowledge of chemical principles. Hypotheses state how you
expect the manipulation of your independent variable to affect your dependent variable and
an explanation or reason why you predicted that response would occur (in short, an if, then,
because statement).

A hypothesis is NOT always required in some cases, experiments are performed simply to
observe the outcome; a reasoned guess (hypothesis) isnt always possible due to a lack of
knowledge (overall or by the experimenter).
Ex.

We believe that different brands of popcorn will produce different percentages of unpopped kernels. We believe this

because the brands cost different amounts of money which should be an indication of the quality of the kernels.
(i.e. The higher the cost, the higher the quality, the fewer unpopped kernels.)

Variables: (required)

Your variables should be clearly labeled (IV/manipulated, DV/responding, and

CV/constants) in this section.

To receive full credit you must identify multiple CV/constants (at least three) and how your
procedure allows for their control (explain how each will be held constant).
Ex.

Independent variable: brand of popcorn

Dependent variable: % of unpopped kernels
Controlled variables: sample size each sample will be 200 kernels
popping time each sample will be popped for 8 min.
brand of oil Wesson vegetable oil will be used in all trials
amount of oil cup of oil will be used per trial
popping method all trials will be done using the same oil popper

Materials: (required)

Be as specific as possible about equipment size (ex. 50 mL beaker rather than beaker).
Names and concentrations of chemicals are needed (total masses/volumes unnecessary).

In list format.
Jiffy Pop popcorn
Orville Redenbachers popcorn
Zap popcorn

stopwatch
oil popcorn popper
Wesson vegetable oil

cup measuring cup

Procedure: (required)

Your procedure must produce the data necessary to make a valid conclusion.

Your procedure must be specific with regard to equipment size, masses/volumes of

chemicals used, and concentrations of solutions (if applicable).

YOU MUST use repeated trials when your goal is produce quantitative data this increases
the validity/reliability of your results and minimizes random error. Five trials is the
standard.

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
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8)
9)

For all three brands, record the cost of one package of popcorn.
Measure cup of Wesson vegetable oil into a measuring cup and pour into your oil popper.
Turn popper on and let oil warm for 3 minutes.
Count out 200 kernels of the first brand of popcorn into a paper cup. Record this as the # of starting kernels.
Pour into the oil popper and start stopwatch.
Turn off the popper at 8 minutes and record the number of unpopped kernels.
Clean the popper out with a paper towel.
Repeat steps 2-7 four more times for a total of five trials for with the first brand.
Repeat steps 2-8 for each of the remaining brands for a total of five trials for each of the three brands.